Hopper door latching mechanism



Sept. 1, 1959 G. B. DOREY HOPPER DOOR LATCHING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Xffifi l 44 I INVENTOR. I

fieorgefi 003 W Filed NOV. 13, 1953 Sept. 1, 1959 s. B. DOREY HOPPER DOOR LATCHING MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 15, 1953 IN VEN TOR. 660C983 Dorqg Sept. 1, 1959 G. B. DOREY 2,901,985

HOPPER DOOR LATCHING MECHANISM Filed Nov. 13, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 v Q I INVENTOR.

v w y W 7 G. B. DOREY HOPPER DOOR LATCHING MECHANISM Sept. 1, 1959 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov. 13, 1955 United States PatentC) 2,901,985 HOPPER noon LATCHING MECHANISM George B. Dorey, Westmount, Quebec, Canada, assignor to Enterprise Railway Equipment Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application November 13, 1953, Serial No.- 391,922 Clainis. (Cl.105'308') This invention relates to an improved type of latching mechanism for retaining the door of a hopper in closed position and more particularly it relates to a type of latch for use with a door pivotally mounted to assume a pendantly open position and movable to an inclined closed position.

Among the objects of this invention are: To provide a shouldered keeper having a beveled approach to the shoulder tapering in different directions. to engage with a pivoted bar latch for displacing the latter by downward and sidewise contact between the latch and beveled surfaces; to provide a pivotally mounted bell crank element having a latching arm extending downwardly from its pivot in the general direction of swinging movement of the door and thereafter extending beyond the swinging edge of the door in the general direction of the pivotal axis of the door; and to provide a latch arm of the character described having a forwardly projecting beveled portion arranged and adapted to engage with the underface of a shouldered keeper to engage therewith in ad- Vance of the main body of the latch bar.

The invention further resides in the details of construction associated with the latch and mounting thereof to attain stability of construction as will be pointed out hereinafter and claimed.

For further comprehension of the invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings wherein the improvement is shown as applied to a railway car hopper door and wherein:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal side view of a portion of a hopper car showing as much of the car as necessary to illustrate a hopper and door embodying the improved latching mechanism, said view showing in full lines the door in opened position and illustrating by conventional dot and dash lines the same door swung to a position of partial closure with the beveled nose portion of the latch in contact with the undersurface of the head of the keeper;

Figure 2 is a frontal elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 1 as viewed from right to left, said view showing approximately one half the width of the car;

Figure 3 is a side View similar to Figure 1 except that the door is shown in a state of closure in advance to that indicated by conventional dot and dash lines in said Figure 1 and the latch element is shown as displaced from its normal latching position;

Figure 4 is a frontal view of the lower portion of the door shown in Figure 3 as viewed on a line 44 of said Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a side view similar to Figure 3 except that the latch element is shown in position for maintaining the door in partially closed position, said view showing certain portions of the structure broken away to illustrate more clearly the details of construction;

Figure 6 is 'a view similar to Figure 5 except that the latch element is shown in latching relation with the keeper as positioned with the door latched in fully closed position;

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Figure 7 is a detached elevational view of the latching bar on an enlarged scale;

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the latching bar shown in Figure 7; I

Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view taken through the latch and on a line corresponding to a line 99 of Figure 8;

Figure 10 is aside elevational view, on an enlarged scale, of the shouldered keeper;

Figure 11 is a plan view of the shouldered keeper shown in Figure 10; and I t v Figure 12 is a frontal elevational view of the structure shown in Figure 10 as viewed from right to left.

In the drawings 10 indicates the center sill of the car and 11 one of the side walls of the car spaced outwardly from said center sill. Interposed between the center sill 1t) and the side wall 11 is the hopper proper including inner and outer side walls as indicated at 12 and 13 respectively, the latter sloping downwardly inwardly toward the inner wall 12. The side walls are connected by transversely extending upper and lower oppositely sloping floors 14 and 15 and the edge portions of said walls 12, 13, 14 and 15 cooperate to define a load discharging area.

A door frame structure 16, which borders the discharge area, includes a lower stirrup shape section including legs 17 and 18 overlying the respective side walls 12 and 13, and a lower beam portion 19 underlying the lower sloping floor 15. The respective leg sections 17 and 18 of the frame are connected by a top beam member 20 which underlies the upper sloping floor 14 and is secured thereto. The stirrup portion of the frame is of generally T shape in cross-section with the stem 21, Figure 5, outstanding from the bar portion 22 of the T-shaped meniber. The top beam member 20 is of angle shape in cross-section with one flange 23 underlying the upper floor 14 and the adjacent flange 24 extending forwardly and in combination with the outer portion of the bar 22 forming a forwardly projecting chute. The top beam member 20 is provided with two pairs of hinge butts each including a pair of walls 2525 which are apertured to receive hinge pintles 26 that, in turn, pivotally support hinge straps 27. Riveted or otherwise secured to the hinge straps 27 is a door 28 which is flanged upwardly from the main load contacting face of the door around its four edges, as at 29, to provide a panshaped structure which, when the door 28 is in closed position, encloses the forwardly projecting chutelike portion of the frame 16.

The door 28, when closed, assumes an inclined position, Figure 5, and, when open, swings to a substantially vertical position, Figure l. The door 28 is adapted to be swung or kicked to closed position and is retained in closed position by latching mechanism which forms the subject of the present invention.

The latch mechanism includes a shouldered keeper element 30, Figures 10, 11 and 12, carried by the frame 16 of the hopper and a cooperating latching bar member 31, Figures 7, 8 and 9, carried by the door 28. The latching bar member 31 is in the form of a lever pivotally mounted intermediate its end-s at 32 to present oppositely extending arms indicated at 33 and 34 respectively. The arm 33 extends outwardly from the pivot 32 toward the outer edge of the door 28 and is of a length and weight to act as a counterweight to bias the opposite arm 34 upwardly towards the hinge axis of the door 28. At its outer end the arm 33 is provided with a handle like extension 35 for operating the latching mechanism as will be hereinafter described. The arm 34 leads downwardly, as at 36, from the pivotal axis 32 to form a bell crank lever and thence at an appreciable distance from the pivot 32 extends substantially in parallelism with the axis of the door to present a latching portion 37 extending 3 contiguously with the swinging edge of the door 28 and adjacent thereto. The latch portions 33, 36 and 37 thus combine to form a latch of substantially Z shape.

The section 37 is arranged and adapted to engage with a shoulder 38 on the keeper element 30. To this end the keeper element 30 presents an open side to permit the entrance of the latching portion 37 of the latch arm 34 into registering engagement with the shoulder 38, it being understood that the shoulder 38 of the keeper 30 is located in the path of swinging movement of the latching portion 37 when the latter is normally biased to latching position.

In order to effect smooth and easy displacement of the latching arm 34 to clear the shoulder 38 of the keeper as the door 28 is moved to closed position, there is provided a novel cooperating structure between the keeper element 30 and latching bar member 31 which now will be described. The nose of the keeper element 30 is tapered to present beveled surfaces 39 and 40, Figure 12, extending in two different planes, the surface 39 extending generally horizontally on the underside of the keeper and the surface 40 extending substantially vertically at the side of the shoulder 38 and presenting a sidewise beveled approach thereto. The latching arm 34 is provided with a forwardly extending nose piece 41, Figures 8 and 9, with a beveled upper surface 41a, said nose piece 41 being disposed beyond the swinging edge of the door 28 and extending appreciably beyond the face of the body of the door. The portion of the latching arm 34 which engages with the shoulder 38 of the keepr element 30 is formed with a stepped latching surface including a preliminary holding ledge 42 and a final holding ledge 43, said respective ledges being spaced from each other and connected by a sloping wedging surface 44 whereby the latching portion 37 may be moved from one step, Figure 5, to another, Figure 6, by a swinging movement of the latching bar member 31 about its pivot 32.

The keeper element 30 is formed with a base portion including angularly related walls 45 and 46 which are braced to the shouldered part of the keeper element by means of a depending flange 47. The wall 45 of the keeper element 30, Figure 5, overlies the stem wall 21 of the frame 16 and is riveted thereto by rivets 48 which also extend through one wall 49 of a reinforcing angle shaped member 50 disposed at the rear of the stem. The adjacent wall 51 of the angle member 50 is secured by rivets 52 to the wall 46 of the keeper element 30.

The latching bar member 31 is pivotally mounted at 32 on a beam member 53, Figure 4, which is preferably formed of angle shape with one wall 54 secured to the outer face of the door 28 and the adjacent wall 55 extends substantially normal to the face of the door 28. The wall 55 is apertured at 56, Figure 6, to accommodate the latching bar member 31 therethrough and dispose the arm 33 above the wall 55 and dispose the arm 34 below the wall 55. The latching bar member 31 is positioned between inner and outer walls 57 and 53 which are preferably integrally formed with the beam member 53, and mounted between said walls on a pivot 59 is a locking dog 60 for retaining the latching element in looking position.

Extending outwardly from the wall 58 is a fulcrum post 61 on which a removable bar is adapted to react for pressing down on the handle portion 35 of the latching bar member 31 to force it from partly closed to fully closed position.

The functioning of the latching mechanism may be well understood by following the sequence of operations involved in the door closing operation as follows: Assuming the door 28 to be in the open pendant position as indicated in Figures 1 and 2 with the dog 64) in overbalanced released position as seen in Figure 2, the operator swings the door 28 toward closed position until the upper surface in of the nose piece 41 of the latching bar member 31 contacts the horizontally extending undersurface 39 of the keeper 30 as seen by conventional dot and dash lines in Figure 1. Further closing movement of the door 28 operates to move the arm 34 downwardly until contact between the surface 41a of the nose piece 4-1 on the latch arm 34 and undersurface 39 of the keeper element 30 ceases. Further displacement of the latching bar element 31 is effected by contact between the latch arm 34 and the lower margin of the acutely extending bevel surface 40. The closing movement of the door 28 is continued until the upper edge of the holding ledge 42 moves past the lower edge of the shoulder 38. The latching bar member 31 then rocks in the opposite direction and the preliminary holding ledge 42 engages with the shoulder 38 of the keeper as seen in Figure 5.

The door is moved from the preliminary holding position as seen in Figure 5 to the final holding position as shown in Figure 6 by a downward movement of the handle portion 35 of the latching bar member 31 which may be conveniently effected by means of a removable bar inserted between the handle 35 and the fulcrum post 61.

As will be seen by reference to Figure l and particularly by noting the position of the door 28 as indicated by conventional dot and dash lines it will be apparent that the displacement movement of the latching bar member 31 from its normal latching position commences at an early stage of the door closing operation when the door 23 is readily swingable in the manner of a pendulum. The retarding effect incidental to displacement of the latching bar member 31, which has heretofore characterized this type of door and latching mechanism referred to in this structure, is thus minimized due to the cooperating acutely beveled surfaces 39 and 41a on the keeper element 30 and the latching member 31, respectively, in addition to the early displacement feature.

What is claimed as new is:

1. In a railway car having a hopper with a discharge opening, a sloping floor terminating at the bottom of said discharge opening, and a door hinged to said hopper adjacent an upper side of said opening and swingable under the effect of gravity to an open position, in combination, a keeper stationarily mounted on the under side of said sloping floor adjacent the bottom of said discharge opening and having an open sided shouldered portion extending beyond the edge of said door furthest removed from the hinge axis of said door, a latching bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on and about an axis perpendicular to said door adjacent said edge of said door and between said keeper and an upwardly extending side of said door, one end portion of said latching bar extending toward said upwardly extending side of said door, the other end portion of said latching bar extending toward the shouldered portion of said keeper and engageable therewith and biased to latching position by the weight of said one end portion of said latching bar, and means for displacing said latching bar from its biased position by engagement with said keeper including a nose piece on and extending from said other end portion of said latching bar in the direction in which said latching bar is moved when said door is swung to closed position and engaging with said shouldered portion of said keeper during the closing movement of said door.

2. In a railway car having a hopper with a discharge opening, a sloping floor terminating at the bottom of said discharge opening, and a door hinged to said hopper adjacent an upper side of said opening and swingable under the effect of gravity to an open position, in combination, a keeper stationarily mounted on the under side of said sloping floor adjacent the bottom of said discharge opening and having an open sided shouldered portion extending beyond the edge of said door furthest removed from the hinge axis of said door, said shouldered portion having a latching bar displacing surface on the under side, a latching bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on and about an axis perpendicular to said door adjacent said edge of said door and between said keeper and an upwardly extending side of said door, one end portion of said latching bar extending toward said upwardly extending side of said door, the other end portion of said latching bar extending toward the shouldered portion of said keeper and engageable therewith and biased to latching position by the weight of said one end portion of said latching bar, and means for displacing said latching bar from its biased position by engagement with said keeper including a nose piece on and extending from said other end portion of said latching bar in the direction in which said latching bar is moved when said door is swung to closed position and having a latching bar displacing surface on the upper side engaging with said latching bar displacing surface on the under side of said shouldered portion of said keeper during the closing movement of said door.

3. In a railway car having a hopper with a discharge opening, a sloping floor terminating at the bottom of said discharge opening, and a door hinged to said hopper adjacent an upper side of said opening and swingable under the efiect of gravity to an open position, in combination, a keeper stationarily mounted on the under side of said sloping floor adjacent the bottom of said discharge opening and having an open sided shouldered portion extending beyond the edge of said door furthest removed from the hinge axis of said door, a latching bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on and about an axis perpendicular to said door adjacent said edge of said door and between said keeper and an upwardly extending side of said door to swing in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said door, one end portion of said latching bar extending toward said upwardly extending side of said door, the other end portion of said latching bar extending toward the shouldered portion of said keeper and engageable therewith and biased to latching position by the weight of said one end portion of said latching bar, said end portions of said latching bar along their respective longitudinal extents in latching position being substantially parallel to said hinge axis, and means for displacing said latching bar from its biased position by engagement with said keeper including a nose piece on and extending from said other end portion of said latching bar normal to the plane of said door and engaging with said shouldered portion of said keeper during the closing movement of said door.

4. In a railway car having a hopper with a discharge opening, a sloping floor terminating at the bottom of said discharge opening, and a door hinged to said hopper adjacent an upper side of said opening and swingable under the efiiect of gravity to an open position, in combination, a keeper stationarily mounted on the under side of said sloping floor adjacent the bottom of said discharge opening and having an open sided shouldered portion extending beyond the edge of said door furthest removed from the hinge axis of said door, said shouldered portion having a latching bar displacing surface on the under side, a latching bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on and about an axis perpendicular to said door adjacent said edge of said door and between said keeper and an upwardly extending side of said door to swing in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said door, one end portion of said latching bar extending toward said upwardly extending side of Said door, the other end portion of said latching bar extending toward the shouldered portion of said keeper and engageable therewith and biased to latching position by the weight of said one end portion of said latching bar, said end portions of said latching bar along their respective longitudinal extents in latching position being substantially parallel to said hinge axis, and means for displacing said latching bar from its biased position by engagement with said keeper including a nose piece on and extending from said other end portion of said latching bar normal to the plane of said door and having a latching bar displacing surface on the upper side engaging with said latching bar displacing surface on the under side of said shouldered portion of said keeper during the closing movement of said door.

5. In a railway car having a hopper with a discharge opening, a sloping floor terminating at the bottom of said discharge opening, and a door hinged to said hopper adjacent an upper side of said opening and swingable under the eifect of gravity to an open position, in combination, a keeper stationarily mounted on the under side of said sloping floor adjacent the bottom of said discharge opening and having an open sided shouldered portion extending beyond the edge of said door furthest removed from the hinge axis of said door, said shouldered portion having a latching bar displacing surface on the under side, a latching bar pivotally mounted intermediate its ends on and about an axis perpendicular to said door adjacent said edge of said door and between said keeper and an upwardly extending side of said door to swing in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of said door, one end portion of said latching bar extending toward said upwardly extending side of said door, the other end portion of said latching bar extending toward the shouldered portion of said keeper and having stepped holding ledges for engaging successively said shouldered portion of said keeper to hold said door respectively in partly and fully closed positions, said other end portion of said latching bar being biased to latching position by the weight of said one end portion of said latching bar, said end portions of said latching bar along their respective longitudinal extents in latching position being substantially parallel to said hinge axis, and means for displacing said latching bar from its biased position by engagement with said keeper including a nose piece on and extending from said other end portion of said latching bar normal to the plane of said door and having a latching bar displacing surface on the upper side engaging with said latching bar displacing surface on the under side of said shouldered portion of said keeper during the closing movement of said door.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,774,870 Campbell Sept. 2, 1930 1,790,295 Wine Jan. 27, 1931 2,620,746 Dorey Dec. 9, 1952 2,624,293 Dorey Jan. 6, 1953 2,641,198 Zimmer June 9, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 246,933 Switzerland Oct. 16, 1947 

